|
|
BATTLESHIP
TEXAS
by Archie
P. McDonald, PhD
Houston
Hotels
Book Here & Save
|
|
| Late in the 1940s
I visited our state's namesake battleship with my family because a
visiting uncle, E.F. Chartrau, a landlubber from Missouri who had
never before seen an ocean, wanted to view the vessel that had been
"home" for part of WWII for his daughter Dorothy, an Army nurse. I
have made several subsequent visits, including an inspection as part
of an inquiry into the Texas parks system in 1998. The old lady has
had many ups and downs within that fifty years. |
|
|
|
Battleship
Texas
Photo Courtesy Captain Robert L. Sadler, Jr. |
|
The keel for
the Texas was laid at Newport News Shipbuilding Company in
1911; she was christened on May 18, 1912 and commissioned on March
12, 1914. A previous vessel with that name was rechristened the San
Marcos so Texas could be used by the newer, larger battleship.
The Texas served in the Atlantic fleet in WWI and was present
at the surrender of the German Imperial Fleet in 1918. After the war
she was refitted from steam to oil-fired burners and in 1927 became
flagship for the fleet. During WWII, the Texas was engaged
in escort duty in the North Atlantic; supported Allied landings in
North Africa; served as flagship for the bombardment group for landings
on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944, when the Allies invaded France
in Normandy; then shifted to the Pacific Theater to support landings
on Iwo Jima and Okinawa; and was present when the US reoccupied the
Philippines. Worn out from the war, the Texas became the first
memorial battleship and historic landmark, which is a polite way to
say that the Navy no longer needed her and shifted responsibility
for the old girl to the State of Texas. Governor Coke Stevens accepted
the Texas in 1946, though she remained a commissioned vessel
until 1948.
The Battleship Texas Commission installed their ship in a berth at
San Jacinto State Park in the Ship Channel near Houston. There she
rested, and deteriorated, until custody was transferred to Texas Parks
& Wildlife.
TP&W inherited a property damaged by years of neglect and mistakes.
By then the Texas had settled on the bottom of its mooring,
concrete had been poured across its deck, and rust was pervasive and
winning. In 1988 the ship was refloated and towed to the Todd Shipyard
in Galveston. Steel plating was replaced, anti-aircraft guns remounted,
necessary structural repairs made, and she was repainted a camouflage
blue before she was returned to her home in the ship channel. There
work continues to restore compartments to their WWII status so visitors
may see what it was like, back then.
All
Things Historical August 5-11, 2001 column
Published by permission.
(Archie P. McDonald is Director of the East Texas Historical Association
and author or editor of over 20 books on Texas) |
|
|
